Protective styling are styles that require little or no daily kind of manipulation. It helps to reduce split ends and breakage when your natural hair that is prone to damage is tucked away.

The use of braids as a protective style is popular because it serves a long-term purpose. Braids tend to look as if it is a style that doesn’t require much maintenance, but in order to get the most out of your protective style and to maintain good health for your hair, you will need to moisturize your hair regularly. Moisturising your braids should be done at least two to three times weekly and immediately after washing.

There are different ways to add moisturise to your hair when you have braids on, it all depends on the one that works for you and the one you can stick with.

Step 1

Making A Leave-in Conditioner.

Choose a leave-in conditioner that is more light-weight than a rinse-out conditioner. The main purpose of using a conditioner is to add moisture, make your hair smooth and healthy. You will need to choose a conditioner that fits your hair type. Note, if you are using a synthetic braid, you can use a conditioner that contains protein as it will help to strengthen your natural hair.

Assemble your moisturiser supplies. You will be needing a conditioner, a spray bottle, a measuring cup, glycerine and water.

Mix water, glycerine and conditioner into the spray bottle. The water helps to slim down the concentration of the conditioner so that it can easily be sprayed on the braid, while the glycerine is added to reduce frizz and to keep the hair moisturised.

Use the spray bottle filled with the mixture of water, leave-in conditioner and glycerine to spray the braids from the back of your hair to the side nearest to your face. If your braid is synthetic, you should majorly spray your scalp but if your braids are natural, then you will be required to spray the whole braid.

Massage the moisturiser into your braids by grabbing chunks the braids from the root and run your hand-filled moisturiser through the entire length of the hair until the hair absorbs the moisturiser. Do the same process to all the braids and make sure your edges are well moisturised. A moisturised edges contributes to the long-term use of the braid.

Seal your braids with a natural oil like almond oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil and the rest of them, at least once or twice a week. It all depends on the available oil. You can seal with oil by sectioning the braids and applying oil to each section of the hair until it is well incorporated.

Deep-Condition Your Braids

First, you need to choose a conditioner that works for you. To achieve great results, look for conditioners that contain a light oil like castor oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil or almond oil as it can easily be absorbed by your scalp and hair. avoid thick conditioners as it can cause a product build-up in your hair.

Apply the conditioner to your scalp and edges. Don’t forget to rub oil on the tips of your braids.

Swaddle your braids by wrapping it into a protective style. You can secure them by twisting into a bun or if your hair is short, then you can just tie to the back of your head and place the wrapped braids in a plastic cap or bag.

Allow the conditioner to get dry. This process normally takes about twenty minutes or more depending on how fast the oil gets soaked by the hair.

Take off the plastic cap and spray your scalp and braids with a leave-in conditioner, rinse out the conditioner and let the braids air-dry. The leave-in conditioner will help to seal in the moisture from the deep conditioning.

Deep conditioning of your braids makes our hair healthy and look great. The regimen can be done weekly but if at any moment your hair starts to look greasy and messy, then you should limit to doing it every other week.